Court draws fire over stalled P85 wage hike
WAGES can’t wait Members of Unity for Wage Increase Now demand immediate implementation of NCR Regional Wage Order 27 and the lifting of the TRO delaying the P85 wage increase.
PHOTOGRAPH by Zedrich Xylak Madrid FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
A Pasig court has been criticized for continuing to implement the injunction that stopped the implementation of the P85 daily wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR).
NAGKAISA Labor Coalition chairperson Jose Sonny Matula pointed this out after Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152 has issued an October 20 order that denied the motion for reconsideration of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) which sought the lifting of the injunction.
“A court that has no jurisdiction has no authority to do anything except dismiss the case,” said Matula.
The OSG, on behalf of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), appealed the August 12 injunction issued by the RTC which granted the petitions of Readycon Construction Corp. and R-II Builders which sought to stop the P85 daily wage increase under Wage Order NCR-27 of Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) NCR.
The court set the bond at P10 billion that has to be paid by the petitioners for the injunction to be implemented but neither Readycon and R-II Builders have yet to do so.
However, Matula found that the RTC, in its October 20 ruling, reduced the bond to P5 billion.
“It cannot issue, maintain, or modify an injunction, nor can it acquire jurisdiction by reducing the injunction bond,” he said.
Citing Republic Act (RA) No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, the lawyer reminded challenges to Wage Order NCR-27 should be brought before the NWPC (National Wages and Productivity Commission), not the RTC.”
“The RTC’s orders are therefore void ab initio,” stressed Magttulo.
“As we emphasize: ‘Kahit gawing piso ang bond, kung walang jurisdiction, walang bisa ang injunction!’,” added the lawyer.
(Even if the court reduce the bond to one peso, the injunction has no power since the RTC has no jurisdiction.)
The same October 20 court order also granted the petition of labor groups including NAGKAISA-affiliated organizations to intervene in the case.
“But thanks, but no thanks. The intervention came too late. Labor groups had already sought Supreme Court relief before the RTC finally allowed them to participate,” said NAKAISA spokesperson Rene Magtubo.
Magtuibo explained “the granting of leave to intervene came too late to erase the harm caused by the injunction or to cure the court’s jurisdictional defect.”
KAMANGGAGAWA Party-list and NAGKAISA’s affiliate groups including National Federation of Labor (NFL), Unified Filipino Service Workers (UFSW), SENTRO and Partido Manggagawa (PM) have a pending petition before the Supreme Court (SC) that challenged the jurisdiction of the RTC over the wage increase.
“We pray that the SC will call for an oral argument immediately after the filing of the OSG of its comment. Justice delayed is survival wages denied,” said Matula.